Originally Posted By Mr Snappy I'm not the bashing type, but I thought I would give you all a taste of how the current class of CM's aren't exactly "world class" My oldest son, who is 7 years old, was very excited due to the fact that he could now drive one of the Autopia cars by himself. I have very fond memories of when I was his age and was able to "drive" my own car on the autopia track, so I was just as excited for him as he was. There were problems right away when the CM's could not control the people getting in to the cars, with people jumping from one car to another in the staging lanes. We finally were able to get the order right. First car was my wife and 4-year old son, next, my 7-year old in his very own car, then me in the third car with the camcorder rolling. He had a tough time keeping the gas pedal down...why on earth do they make those so darn hard to push down? But the trip was a good one...until As we rolled back to the station to get out, my wife was flagged to pull forward, to the front of the open slots. But my son, who was in front of the number 8 loading station, was told to stop and get out of the car. Remember, I am behind him and witnessed everything. As he undoes his buckle and starts to get out, another CM tells him to pull forward...that CM then leaves...the first CM comes back and now very sternly and loudly tells hime to GET OUT OF THE CAR...then he leaves, my son gets up again and actually gets one foot out of the car...then the second one sees him and YELLS at him to get back in and not to remove that belt until told too and to MOVE THAT CAR UP ! My son is very shy and also has been taught to be very respectful of adults, especially ones in authority positions. By now the kid is about in tears trying to figure out what to do. As he gets out and finds his brother and mom, I let the CM know he better watch who he is yelling at and to get on the same page as the other idiot who was also barking orders at my son. This moron gives me a look and ignores me. Now I am really pissed. I go over and ask his name and the name of the CM lead. He says he doesnt know the CM lead and ignores me again. Meanwhile, my son no longer wants anything to do with this ride and it takes me 3 days to convince him that he did nothing wrong and to go again...this time he would only do it with me in his car. Now, I now what you are going to say, I should have gone to city hall and reported "Paul", but it was more than just one idiot, it was the whole crew. They were more interested in chatting with each other or counting minutes to their next break then doing their job. This is the caliber of employee you get with the crap wages they are paying. Complaining to City Hall would do nothing and only waste more of my vactaion. Before I end this, i don't want it to sound like all CM's are bad. We had some excellent ones on the Jungle Cruise and others that seemed to be competent. But this was not isolated, we had a problem last year with a Toon-town moron (long story)
Originally Posted By Sweeper <<This is the caliber of employee you get with the crap wages they are paying.>> You hit the nail on the head. Pay a quality wage and demand quality work. I'm so sorry your son had this experience. This attraction needs either quality CM's or electrification with blocked sections to reduce the need for CM's. You can also e-mail City Hall now. Give them the date and time and "Paul's" name and they can figure it out.
Originally Posted By PsylocibeFrog miscommunications happen with everyone, and they have hefty stress, staging autopia during summer season...intense. threatening cast members, i guess thats one way of dealing with it.
Originally Posted By Phantom I overheard a current ride operator telling a former cast member that things have gotten worse since the former cast member left, and she plans on leaving soon. This was onstage. Feel proud, contract negotiators. You're sure doing a good job of keeping those cast member wages in line, while Casting has to beg for people to come work at the Resort when they used to be lines up around the block applying. I don't care if is supposed to be an entry-level job. Disney is supposed to be a better experience.
Originally Posted By JazzCat PsylocibeFrog Sun 5/7/2006 10:00a miscommunications happen with everyone, and they have hefty stress, staging autopia during summer season...intense. With all due respect, this is not so much a miscommunication problem as it is a teaching problem. Also, it's not the summer season yet so please don't make excuses for poor quality service.
Originally Posted By pitapan16 Thatsa terrible story, especially at "Disneyland," wow!...Well, I don't have numbers in front of me but I sure have thought about the cast member shortage and how its effecting things at Disneyland. And I think not complaining to City Hall could have potentially been a large mistake. You can get anything done in City Hall if you are persistent enough. I would have had my whole day refunded and shown them that my day back is not unreasonable, for Disney had ruined a large portion of your trip/day. And lastly, their are still many great cast members at Disneyland. Of course, the numbers could and probably are/have been declining.
Originally Posted By alphabetmom I totally agree Cm's need to be paid a decent wage. That being said, it does not give them permission to treat people poorly because they don't make a decent wage. Also, it is their choice to stay on as a CM.
Originally Posted By tiggertoo Well, I’m a former Auto CM and can tell you, it can be a tough attraction to work at times depending on the guests you happen to get at that moment. That’s no excuse for rudeness though. When I went on the 4-28-06, I too noticed a difference in the caliber of CMs. I bumped into a few CMs I knew and worked with in the past. When asked about the newer crews, they also had little positive to say. Mr. Snappy, I am very sorry your son got yelled at. I know sometimes I would have to yell myself, not in anger or frustration, but just to be heard over the cars. But it sounds like the CMs were more snippy than that. For that there is no excuse. By chance, were you on track 2 (blue). That particular track can get pretty chaotic. It’s generally where we would stage and load SAP guests, and potentially changes your original order. Essentially, the first CM you came in contact with on that track (line 2) would handle these guests and their cars and controls incoming cars. The line 1 CM might not know what was up. On any other track, it’s a bit simpler; but still, always listen to the first CM who is instructing the guests to their numbers. Your son did the right thing. Good for him. As far as the CM not knowing the lead, that’s utter BS. Even if the CM didn’t know exactly who it was at that time (unlikely), when a guest asks to see a lead, we got the lead and would even hold traffic in order to do so if we must. It’s a simple courtesy. There was no excuse to ignore the request. Next time that happens, make sure to get a lead. Ask another Auto CM if you must. The lead will almost always be willing to rectify the matter. Anyhow, just let your son know that from those of us who know the attraction and how it operates, your son did exactly what he should have. *thumbs up* Lastly, I can fully understand not wanting to interrupt your vacation. I wouldn’t want to either. But you can make the same complaint online in your spare time at this website: https://secure.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/help/contactUs?name=ContactUsPage Make sure to highlight the message subject: “comment on you Disneyland resort visitâ€. Gary K.
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Originally Posted By iGirl WOW...how utterly awful for your son. I remember when I was tall enough to drive my own car and how excited I was to go to Autopia on that magical day. I didn't sleep a wink the night before. I feel utter disgust for those two CMs who turned what should have been such a special time into something that he will probably remember for the rest of his life. It's one thing for a CM to be rude to an adult, BUT NEVER EVER TO A CHILD...EVER. CM's low pay doesn't hold any weight with me. Those that choose to work there know what their job duties are and how to behave. If they are disappointed with their compensation packages, then those CMs don't belong at Disneyland. The only time it's permissible to for a CM to break their on-stage personas is when a guest or guests safety is at stake. Shame on Disneyland for even putting CMs like that in front of the public. Big hugs to you and your son.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss Sorry to hear about your unmagical experience. But you definitely want to make a formal complaint to Disney (as per Gary's instuctions), because griping here will accomplish nothing. Perhaps in the long run raising CM's pay and so on would purge many of the bad CM's, but you can't count on something taht may never happen. The only course at this stage of the game is to make the complaint, so these things go into the CM's records. You never know; your complaint may not be the only one, and it could be the one that removes that CM from employment.
Originally Posted By RAM1984 >>For the record, I have been going to Disneyland for 40 years now....<< Me too and it bothers me so to see the decline in public service over the years. My sister lived in SoCal in 1970 and when I asked her why she did not apply for a job at Disneyland she said, "Because there is about a 6 month waiting list." Times have changed. I believe it is important to make your complaints and I believe it is equally important to submit commendations for special CM's. I never mind taking time out of my vacation to praise an excellent cast member. So sorry that your son had to endure such treatment. And I know what you mean about those pedals; I get a cramp in my foot everytime I ride Autopia.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA <My solution? Disney should raise it's wages to $20.00 hour to start and then be VERY selective about who it takes.> And be ready for $100 admission tickets.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper At the rate they are going we are going to hit $100 sooner rather than later and the cast members won't be making any more money anyway.
Originally Posted By fkurucz That would only be true if labor was the lions shares of expenses. No doubt ticket prices would have to go up. On the other hand, they would save a lot of money on training and overtime, as positions would be fully staffed and CM's would stay on and turnover would be tiny.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss I don't doubt CM's would stay forever for a $20.00 starting pay. But honestly, does anyone think starting pay should be so high for a non-professional (i.e. not requiring higher learning) job? I don't.
Originally Posted By Brer Jules No, I dont think $20 is a reasonable starting wage for a job requiring no education either, but I absolutely agree they should be paid much more substantially. Its hard to imagine there has not been some cost/benefit analysis done by Disney exec to see the benefit of raising the wage considerably. Certainly raising it to a level where they are 'an employer of choice' would be of benefit in the long run due to cost savings of training, etc. Not to mention the fact that stories such as those told by Mr. Snappy would decrease, likely increasing volume of visitors at the same time. Happier guests spend more money too! It would be a win/win for all involved. Perhaps some of the acct execs are a little short sighted? JMHO.
Originally Posted By Tiggirl Mr. Snappy, I'm sorry to hear about this. I hope you and your family had an otherwise plesant vacation. I second tiggertoo's motion to email Disney. I've done it multiple times before and it seems to work pretty well. Best of luck! ~Beth <a href="http://www.mousehub.com" target="_blank">http://www.mousehub.com</a>
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<Its hard to imagine there has not been some cost/benefit analysis done by Disney exec to see the benefit of raising the wage considerably. Certainly raising it to a level where they are 'an employer of choice' would be of benefit in the long run due to cost savings of training, etc. Not to mention the fact that stories such as those told by Mr. Snappy would decrease, likely increasing volume of visitors at the same time.>> I think they have done the analysis already, but not on paper. Disney has kept wages low, and attandance has not suffered.. if anything, it continues to go up. The only significant drop in attendance occured after 9/11
